Rep. Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley, wrote a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton Tuesday calling on him to halt an election that began Monday in which independent childcare providers who receive state money are deciding whether to form a union.

Republicans have long opposed the attempt to unionize the childcare providers who receive state money from the childcare assistance program, or CCAP, for low-income children.

The childcare providers would be joining AFSCME, which is a powerful DFL constituency.

Mack says the Department of Human Services and Dept. of Mediation Services, which are administering the election, have misinterpreted the election statute and in the process eliminated some providers from the voter list, thereby disenfranchising them.

A Duluth native who just barely lost Virginia's GOP gubernatorial primary said that politicians have not gone far enough in condemning the left for violence during a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville. "I think that the left is going to try to use this as an excuse to crack down on conservative free speech," said Corey Stewart. "I think they're going to try to use this as an excuse to remove more historical monuments."